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Cleveland Clinic Top 10 Medical Innovations for 2020

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Dr KK Aggarwal    08 November 2019

  1. Dual-acting osteoporosis drug:The recent FDA approval of romosozumab, a new dual-acting drug is giving patients with osteoporosis more control in preventing additional fractures.
  2. Expanded use of minimally invasive mitral valve surgery:Expanding the approval of a minimally invasive valve repair device to a population of patients who have failed to get symptom relief from other therapies provides an important new treatment option.
  3. Inaugural medication for transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy:It is a progressive, underdiagnosed, potentially fatal disease in which amyloid protein fibrils deposit in, and stiffen, the walls of the heart’s left ventricle. But a new agent to prevent misfolding of the deposited protein is showing a significantly reduced risk of death. Following Fast-Track and Breakthrough designations in 2017 and 2018, 2019 marked the FDA approval of tafamidis, the first-ever medication for treatment of this increasingly recognized condition.
  4. Therapy for mitigation of peanut allergies:Development of a new oral immunotherapy medication to gradually build tolerance to peanut exposure holds the opportunity to lend protection against attack.
  5. Closed-loop spinal cord stimulation:Implantable devices provide electrical stimulus to the spinal cord but unsatisfactory outcomes due to subtherapeutic or overstimulation events are common. Closed-loop stimulation is allowing for better communication between the device and the spinal cord providing more optimal stimulation and relief of chronic pain
  6. Biologics in orthopedic repair:Biologics – cells, blood components, growth factors, and other natural substances – have the power to replace or harness the body’s own power and promote healing. These elements are finding their way into orthopedic care, allowing for the possibility of expedited improved outcomes.
  7. Antibiotic envelope for cardiac implantable device infection prevention: Antibiotic-embedded envelopes are now made to encase implantable cardiac electronic device, effectively preventing infection.
  8. Bempedoic acid for cholesterol lowering in statin intolerant patients:Bempedoic acid provides an alternative approach to lowering of LDL-cholesterol while avoiding these side effects.
  9. PARP inhibitors for maintenance therapy in ovarian cancer:One of the most recent important advances ovarian cancer treatment, PARP or poly-ADP ribose polymerase inhibitors have improved progression-free survival and are now being approved for first-line maintenance therapy in advanced stage disease. Several additional large-scale trials are underway with PARP inhibitors set to make great strides in improving outcomes in cancer therapy.
  10. Drugs for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: Currently, recommendations for treatment are directed at accompanying conditions and mere symptom relief. But SGLT2 inhibitors, a class of medications used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, is now being explored in HFpEF (Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, also known as diastolic heart failure) alluding to a potential new treatment option.

(Source: Cleveland Clinic)

 

 Dr KK Aggarwal

Padma Shri Awardee

President Confederation of Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania (CMAAO)

Group Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications

President Heart Care Foundation of India

Past National President IMA

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